Pneumatic dust removal machine



July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLiCK PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL momma 5 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed March 30, 1949 J- G. HOLLICK PNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL MACHINE July18, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 30, 41949 [nventor John G./'/o//1'c/( fly A orncy July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLICK I PNEUMATIC DUSTREMOVAL MACHINE Filed March 50,. 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 18, 1950 J.G. HOLLICK 2,515,223

PNEUMATIC" DUST REMOVAL MACHINE Filed March 30, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4fiivenfor: John G. Ha /lick July 18, 1950 J. G. HOLLlCK PNEUMATIC DUSTREMOVAL MACHINE S-Sheets-Sheet 5 [10621 for: John G. /7'0///0/ FiledMarch 30, 1949 Patented July 18, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPNEUMATIC DUST REMOVAL MACHINE John G. Hollick, Beverly, Mass -assignorto United 7 Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporationof New Jersey Application March" so, 1949, Serial No. 84 368 (01. es -n12 Claims.

This invention relates to machines: for removing; dust particles from:the surfaces of. materials which are handled as individual sheets andwhich: possess compact: structures as distin-- guished' from loosestructures" such as fabrics. The invention relates more particularlyto'pneumatic apparatus-for removing fine dust from sucharticles'astannedhides or skins. As hereinillustrated, the invention is embodied in apneumatic machine: which is an' improvement over thatdisclosedandclaimed in a copendin'g: application for: Letters Patent of" theUnited States Serial No.- 740,666,, filed" April -,-.1947, inthe.names-of Cutler D.- Knowlton and: John G. Hollickwhich issuedon=September- 27'; 1949 as- Patent-No. 2,482,781. Such machines areparticularly adapted for carryingaoutthe novel method disclosed andclaimed in a copending application for Letters Patent of the UnitedStates; Serial No. 691,090,',filed August 16, 1946; in the name of- JohnG; Hollick which issued=on September 27, 1949 as PatentNo; v2, l82j7'75:

Conventional brushing-machines (relying uponbrushes-for the actualcleaning operation) do not remove dustrfrom leatherto the extentdesired, with the result-that subsequentoperations oftenproduce acloudy; streaked or-- unsightly finish on the leather.

The pneumatic: machine disclosed in the patent applicationSerial No.740,666, above referred to,..has been foundin actual tannery practice toperform superior. workand-in -aimanner not previously encountered in atanneryfl It has been found, however, that in the useof such=a pneumaticmachine there oftenaredifficulties in feeding. particular leathershaving. stifforcurled edges or which are-extremelyflexible'or: flimssuch as suede (sheepskin) or very thin calfskin. If one brush is usedfor feeding, the work, then the work must be pushed (instead ofbeing-pulled) during-alportion of its travel through the machine and thefeeding becomes erratic. If two brushes areused to feed the work (onebrush for-each side of the work astheothcrside is cleaned by air),thenneither brush performs its Work .in a positive manner and difficulttiming problems arise together with the added expense of the requisiteparts. At leastone brush was used and wasbelieved preferable in thepneumatic type of machine to bringaabout' the feeding .of eachconsecutive Work piece, such as ahide or. skin, throughthe machine andit Wasashown'to be effective-in this respect for some leathers butnot-for otherswand its'use'0n--- all leathers was not such as :tomake-the pneumatic dust" removal operation as efficient as would bedesirable; Another difiiculty has been encountered in that certainpassages of the pneumatic machine have been blocked with dust; causingfrequent interruptions in the production schedule and making cleansingof themachine necessary. I

An object of the present invention is to pro-a vide' apneumatic machinefor removing dust fromconsecutively. presented work pieces such as hidesor skins in whichmachine the work may be more smoothly fed-toand from-atreatment zone with-improvedefficiency of dustremoval in that zonedespite variations in=thinnessgflexibilityor stiffness I necessarilyencountered in such-works l To the above ends and in accordance withimportant characteristics of the invention, a flexible conveyor belt isprovided for guiding and resilientlyrestraining a spread-'out work pieceina-path contiguous to a nozzle discharge-area and a suction ductstructure associated with that area., Preferably, and as illustrated twosimilar unitsi. e.,--.two'nozzleandsuction struc tures are provided oneforeachside of a;-worl-2-- to he -treated, and each unit ha a flexiblepiece 7 belt conveyor cooperating with it.

Another feature ofthe invention is found eachunitor nozzle and suctionstructure which"; comprises two halves'orcastingsjoined together withspacing means between them to determine the nozzledischarge areaoropening which is preferably in'theeform of a-=s10t. One-otherv featureresides in the stepped-and slotted-nozzle structure in which thenozzlelip located nearestto the front of the machine extends nearer tothe path of the work than the other lip of-the" same-unit. Still anotherfeature is the provision forsupplementing the di-ist-laden air with moreair to=insu-re the carrying away of Y thedust'from the nozzle andsuctionpassages of the machine 1 tion. of travel of I or object:

When'the term hides is used aloneherein' itis-- the intention te -referto work pieces-such The use of a that tei m' as "hides; sides; orlskins. avoids excess verbiage:

The invention will now be more particularly described by reference tothe accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front view in elevation and partially in section (along theline I-I of Fig. 2) of the preferred form of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the right-hand end of the machine shownin Fig. 1, parts being broken away for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view along the line IIIIII of Fig. 1 andis drawn to a larger scale with the main operative parts ofthe machinebeing shown;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the left-hand end of the lower nozzle andsuction structure or unit together with portions of conveyor beltsassociated therewith;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view in section and diagrammatically presentedto illustrate the principles of operation of the machine;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional View of a portion of one nozzle andsuction structure;

Fig. '7 is a view partially in section and drawn to an enlarged scale ofsome of the safety device details shown in the left-hand side of themachine as viewed in Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective showing a portion including one end of acasting, which casting comprises almost one half of a complete nozzleand suction structure; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of some of the parts shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a locater or gage mechanism for thefront conveyor belt roller; and

made up of three endless conveyor belts I 4, I6 and I8 (Figs. 2, 3 and5) and their supporting rollers 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 36 are arrangedfor the conveying of a work piece W (Fig. 3) beneath the nozzlestructure A and just above the nozzle structure B and from the machine.

The upper nozzle and suction structure A is supported on the standardsI0 and I2 by bolts 32 (shown only at the right-hand end of the machinein Figs. 1 and 2). tion structure B is supported on the standards I0 andI2 by bolts 34 (also shown at one end only of the machine).

The nozzle and suction structures A and B are identical in constructionand each is made up of two castings 36 which are similar in that theymay be taken from the same mold. Each casting 36 is rather intricate inconstruction and may best be understood by reference to Fig. 8. The endsof a given casting 36 are similar to each other except, of course, thatthey are to the opposite hand. Each of the castings 36 is made up of'aside or vertical Wall 40, a horizontal wall 42, end walls 44, a nozzlewall section 46, and interior partitions 48, 50, 52, 54 and 56. Thepartitions are so arranged, when two of the castings 36 are joinedtogether to form a unit, that air entering through end openings 60 (inthis case through only one opening 60 of each unit A or B) is caused toflow along between the nozzle wall sections 46 and emerge from betweenthe lips 62. After im- Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of theThe nozzle and suc- 4 pact with leather to be cleaned, as will befurther described, dust-laden air is then caused to pass betweenparallel ribs or partitions 64 and out through a central dischargeopening 66. The above-referred-to passage of air obtains when two halves36 are bolted together in the relation shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Each endof each casting 36 is provided with five through holes 16 (Fig. 8) forbolts I2 which serve to hold the two halves of a nozzle unit orstructure A or B together. Each casting 36 is also provided with holes(Fig. 8) passing through the partition 52 and through which bolts 8|(see unit A in Fig. 3) are retained to aid in holding the two halves 36together. As will be further explained the two halves are not in contactwith each other when assembled but are separated a short distance bythin sheets of metal or shims 82 and 84 and also by a gasket or fillercomposition 85 at exterior points where the shims are not used. Eachcasting 36 is also provided with a number of bosses 88 (Figs. 3 and 8)through which pass bolts 9ll(see unit A in Fig. 3) which assist inholding the parts in rigid relation. The ribs 64 of each casting areparallel and they are inclined at an angle across the casting. Sideplates I00 are attached to the castings of each unit by means-of screwsI 04. It will be noted that the ribs 64 are each of such length thatthey form passages leading from one side of each wall I06 to theexterior or other side of that wall. The longitudinal edge III] of eachcasting 36 is beveled as shown. In the machine illustrated, the fouopenings 60 and the two openings 66 of the two front castings 36 areclosed by means of plates H2 and H4. The rear" right-hand'opening 60 ofthe unit A communicates with a rubber hose I20 (Fig. 2) leading to asource of supply of air under pressure. I The lower rear and left-handopening 60 communi- "cates with a source of air under pressure by meansof the hose connection I22. The rear lefthand opening 60 of the unit Aand the rear righthand opening 60 of the unit B are closed by means ofsuitable plates. 'The upper opening 66 communicates with an air exhaustsystem. by means of a conduit I24 and the lower rear opening 66communicates with the same system by the conduit I26.

A switch control box I30 (Fig. 1) is mounted on the front. of themachine and has three push buttons F, R and S for initiating operationof the work feeding system forwardly or in reverse or for stopping it.

A casting I32 is mounted near the right-hand end and on the under sideof the nozzle structure pended from the brackets or castings I32 and I34by means of bolts I44 and I46. Each of the bolts I44 and slot in itscasting I32 or I34 permitting adjustment of the roller 20 to vary thetension in the belt I4.

A handle I56 (Figs. 2 and 10) depends from and is pivoted upon a pin I52passing through two ears I54 and I56 (Fig. 10) forming part of thecasting I32. A rod I58 is threaded into the up:

per end of the handle I50 and is locked therein I46 passes through a'in...suoh=position as to abut the. rear ofthe dour,

nalflll l and-thereby .adjustabl .determine. the.

propenpositionof theright-hand endof theroller- Mnas wellras-the propertension. the belt J4 pneliminaryto tightening of the. bolt 14.4. The.journal 11.42 is similarly mountedior adjustment.

and-aihandle 1.80. (similar'to handle 150;). is shown.

for-the. purpose .(see' Fig. 11),. the construc.-.-. tionoflthesedetails asshown, the tension of the. belt M may. be restored-aftercleaning of theuslot. in unit A and this restoration may be effectedvwithout: tedious adjustment. In. other words, the

pins; 1 5.8 .serveas .locators or gages. in. positioning If the handles.and 160. are

the roller 20. swung forwardly and. the. bolts. .IM and 14.5. are

loosened, .the. belt 29 may be-relaxed'. sufficiently: to. permitinsertion of an. appropriate tool. to

clean theair discharge slot of. theunit A.

Beneath the upper run theforward conveyor:

attached to the rod ITO-to determine thelimits of vertical travel of thebar I62. The extreme end of the extension [64 is provided with an eye-H8 byv means of which a spring I8!) is adapted to resiliently supportthe bar 162 to an eye I82 affixed to the stanchion l2 A micro-switch l84is attached to the stanchion lz with its plunger normally in contactwith the extension I54, A spring I86 and micro-switch I88 (Fig. 11) aresimilarly mounted at the other end of the bar I62.

Two brackets B are mounted on the nozzle structure B to supportand formjournals for the twoconveyor rollers 22 and 28. Each bracket 200 isattached to the nozzle structure 13 by three bolts 202 (Fig. 4.) and isprovided with a horizontal rear extension 2% (Fig. 9) and an upwardlydirected flange 206. passes through each flange 26b and is providedwith-a lock nut 2|!) (Fig. 2). permits a horizontal adjustmentin anddetermination of the. position of the roller 25' as the threaded-rod 288abuts against one of the journalsZ l2 at each end of the roller 26. Eachjournal 2152 is attached to its bracket extension 204= by=means of abolt passing through a slot 213 (Eig. 9)uin that extension.

Anoutrigger arm 22!).extends rearwardlyfrom each end ofthe nozzlemechanism-Bandis at:

tached thereto by two bolts. 22,2; Eacharm- 220 at therear of each arm23; for the support of theconveyon roller 3i). The-outrigger arms 22d.-

i e hirdbe t m r se i n qu p.- mentthe u se of which is preferred but'isnot' essential aswill further appear.

A- large bracket 25!! (Fig. 1) isbolted at 252 to the front side of thenozzle: mechanism Band tothisbracket is attached the motor. M for.drivingtheconveyor System. The motor shaft is ar- This; .bar is slightlyA threaded rod 208 This mechanism 22. that belt, Lads driven hytheroller 22 i, andsthatv belt It. is driven loathe-roller 2%, the ends ofall conveyor shafts are provided with collars .269 where essential,

It hasbeen. stated above that the four castings. 36:; are identicalandthisis substantially correct as-they. are made from the samemold. Ithas been found; however, that the rear halves or cast-.

ingsof each. nozzlestr-ucture A on Bt-shouldiloe.

modified; slightly in, ond'en to minimize-the clog.- ging of the nozzledischarge areas, It has been found: advantageous to. machine downthe lipof thezrear castings 3.6.; asclearly i'llLlStlfdtfid'il'lIFig. 6i dirtbeing forced intorand'e any work catching in the slot of the. particularnozzle structure conranged to drive a pulley 25.?lilth iougha geararrangement 2555; A belt zlilleads from the. pulleya fl t-ta a .nu ley.5.8 a which keyed. its rotateiwithl corned; The slot. width dimension P(Fig. 6)

should not-exceedaa s of an inch. andwith; such a. slot the distance Jshould be at least .005 inchif the desired; non-clogging propensities ofthe slot-- are toberealized. It is much preferred that such. Orifice bein the form. of a slot and that the preferred'efiective width of theslot be only a- .fe= w thousa-n-dths ofan inch, that is, not in ex- S e/1000 or; aninch. With such adimension for: the width, the slotzisbarely perceptible to the eye. Regardless-of the form oforifice ororificesused-a (it is clear that perforated stationary or reciprocatednozzle members ma be used inlieu of slotted units) the effective-crosssectional orifice area should: not exceed. of a square inch per; linearfoot (measured transverse to the direction of feed'of-the work) .=.whichis the same as thearea ora a slot.

A1 guard; 55M; of sheet: metal; is mounted on the front-of the, unit andis attached. thereto by screws 392. The guard is provided withadownwardly andirearwardly inolinedlip 304:.w-hich terminates close up.to the soft covering of the roller, (36'.

In operatingthemaohine the; motor- M is utilized; to runathe conveyorsystem in a direction shownby thearrows in Figs. sand-'5'. A hide (Eig-r3 isc-then spread'out'. by the operator upon theupper run oithe conveyorbelt M'and one. edge thereofi'is inserted beneath therubbercovereolroller. 36: The insertion is made easy bythepresence-ofthesguard lip 30 3. Assuming thatcair underpressureis directed into thenozzle struoture. A1 and.l3;.through conduits 12%! and IZZtheAVQrkpiece, W is quickly and positively fed by; the conveyor systembeneath thenozzle area 0f.the-.unit2A1 andover the. nozzle area of thehnitB and'sthen is; discharged to the conveyor belt i 8 from which thecleaned work piece W may be removed; During the-passage, the air emergesfrom the. slotiofe-achzunit A andB and impinges upon the leather todislodge-dusttherefrom. The dust-laden airis pulled; into the exhaustsystem fromboth sides-of eachslot through the spaces :between the ribsM. Supplementary air from the room is admitted :at the side-of each unitto.

those. same; spaces and ensures suillcientair:

velocity to carry thedu-st out. of the machine.

The. belt: lflzservesto supportseach treated work apiece-momentarily,permittinguthetoperator sufll- This provision eliminates the possibilityof ation is assured without the belt I8, however, for

the operator may grasp the leading edge of each work piece and maymanually support the piece 1 as it is discharged.

Fig. 11 diagrammatically illustrates the elec" trical circuits utilizedin controlling the motor M for driving the conveyor belts of themachine. Power is derived from the main lines D, E and G, thethree-phase current passing only to the motor M.

For feeding a work piece through the machine-i. e., for moving theconveyor belts I4, I6 and I8 forwardly, the push button F is depressed,energizing the forward contactor FC which remains energized when thebutton F is released because of the holding contacts 0. Current passesthrough the lines 11, e and g to the motor M.

When an'obstruction, such as the hand of an operator, causes the upperrun of the conveyor belt I l to be depressed beyond a predeterminedlimit, one or both of the switches I84 and I88 will close, energizingthe relay K and opening the coil of the forward contactor FC' therebyshutting off the power to the motor M. After a short time delay due tothe mechanism of the relay K, the reverse contactor RC is energized andthe motor M actuates the conveyors in reverse. Reverse operation removesthe operators hand or other obstruction from the zone above the bar I62,ensures that both switches I84 and I88 are open and stops the motor M.The push button F must again be depressed for resumption of the workfeeding operation.

With the circuits shown, the motor M and the conveyors which it drivesmay be stopped by depressing the bush button S or they may be operatedin reverse for such interval of time as may be desired depressing thereverse push button R to energize the reverse contactor RC. With currentflowing the mechanical linkage or pivv oting lever H between thecontactors FC and RC forces the motor M to run either forwardly oreffect of gravity. In order to facilitate removal of such obstructionsthe conveyor roller 20 may be loosened from its position and pushedrearwardly a sufiicient amount to permit an operator to put his handinto the machine between the roller I36 and the bar I62 and insert athin instrument into the discharge slot to clean it. This operation hasbeen referred to above in the description of the handles I56 and I60 andtheir function.

The cleaning of each individual work piece is rapidly done and theeffective cleaning action of 1 the air at each nozzle unit is limited toand concentrated on the leather area immediately adjacent the airdischarge slot of each unit. With such concentration of the air currentson the Work piece the action is extremely effective and serves tominimize the quantity of air essential for the proper dust removal.actual operation that the air action is concen- It is known from tratedon the areas referred to. This is because of the efiiciency of operationand also because of the visual evidence that the surfaces of the edgesI'IU contacted by the work and the corresponding conveyor belt becomemore polished than do the webs 64. It will be noted that the conveyorbelts I4 and I6 are arranged in an overlapping relation and that theycooperate with the nozzle" structures in such a way that each work pieceW is positively guided for proper treatment despite the fact that thecharacteristics of the work treated may vary considerably. Each workpiece may be very thin, extremely flexible, or quite stiff or the edgesmay be curled and rather hard and despite these difiiculties theconveyor belts cooperate with the nozzle units properly to feed thework.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising nozzle means with anozzle discharge opening area extending the full. width of a spreadoutwork piece, suction means along both sides of other of said structureswhereby both sides of said work piece may be treated.

3. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising a horizontal nozzleand suction strucf ture extending the full width of a spread-out workpiece, said structure comprising two portions joined together withspacing means between them to determine a nozzle discharge opening area,and a flexible conveyor belt arranged to guide and resiliently torestrain said work piece in a path contiguous to said area.

4. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising an upper and. alower nozzle and suction structure, each structure being horizontal andcomprising two halves joined together to form a nozzle opening in theform of a slot with a length greater than the width of a spread-out workpiece and with one lip extending beyond the other, and flexible conveyorbelts arranged to guide and restrain said work piece in a pathcontiguous to and transverse to the extended lips.

5. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising nozzle means with anozzle discharge slot extending the full width of a spread-out workpiece, suction means along both sides of said slot,

and a flexible conveyor belt arranged to guide and :.resiliently torestrain said work piece in a path leading from the front of the machineand transverse to said slot, the foremost lip of the slot being arrangedto extend nearer to said path than the I rearmost lip of said slot.

6. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising a nozzle andsuction structure with a nozzle discharge area extending the full widthof a spread-out work piece and suction means located beside said area,said suction means including an inlet for the admission of supplementaryair, and a flexible conveyor belt arranged to guide and resiliently torestrain said work piece in a path contiguous and transverse to saidstructure.

7. A pneumatic machine for treating hides in- =cluding horizontal upperand lower nozzle and suction structures each of which extends the fullwidth of a spread-out work piece and comprises cast metal portionsjoined together to form a discharge slot between them, each structurealso having suction means located beside its discharge slot including aninlet for the admission of supplementary air, and flexible conveyorbelts arranged to guide said work piece beneath one and over the otherof said structures whereby both sides of said work piece may be treated.

8. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising nozzle means withnozzle discharge area extending the full width of a spread-out workpiece, a power operated flexible conveyor belt arranged to feed andresiliently to restrain said work piece in a path contiguous andtransverse to said area, and a, safety device including an elementmovable by undue displacement of said belt from said path to terminatethe work feeding operation of the conveyor belt.

9. A pneumatic machine for treating hides including upper and lowernozzle and suction structures, each of said structures comprising twoportions joined together to form a discharge slot between them, andthree flexible conveyor belts arranged in overlapping relation to feedsaid work piece in a path leading through the machine and contiguous tothe slots of said structures for treatment of both sides of the Workpiece.

10. A pneumatic machine for treating hides comprising upper and lowernozzle and suction structures each extending the full width of aspread-out work piece, three power operated flexible conveyor beltsarranged in overlapping relation resiliently to restrain and feed saidwork piece in a path leading beneath one and over the other of saidstructures and a safety device ex tending beneath a run of one of saidconveyor belts arranged by undue displacement of said run to reverse thedirection of operation of said one of the conveyor belts.

11. A pneumatic machine for treating hides including upper and lowernozzle structures, said upper structure having a downwardly directeddischarge, said lower structure having an upwardly directed discharge, afirst horizontal conveyor belt arranged as an exposed support for a workpiece as said work piece is spread out by an operator, said first beltextending beneath said upper nozzle structure, a second conveyor beltcontiguous to, above, and in overlapping relation with one run of saidfirst belt and extending over said lower nozzle structure, each of saidbelts being power driven, and the length of the nozzle discharge area ofeach of said structures being in excess of the width of said work piece.

12. A pneumatic machine for treating hides including an upper nozzlestructure with a discharge nozzle area directed'downwardly, a lowernozzle structure with a discharge nozzle area directed upwardly, a firstendless conveyor belt arranged as a partially exposed support for a hideextending beneath said upper nozzle structure, a second endless conveyorbelt contiguous to, above, and in overlapping relation with the upperrun of said first belt and extending over said lower nozzle structure,each of said belts being power driven to feed said hide through themachine, and each of said nozzle areas extending the full width of saidhide and not exceeding of a square inch per linear foot as measuredacross said hide.

JOHN G. HOLLICK.

No references cited.

